My New Website

Hi Everyone,

It's a rainy sunday here in Victoria, so I'm taking care of things a few things that need to be done.

You're looking at an old blog that I started up for a while back in tha day. I haven't logged into it for years, but it still shows up in some google searches.

So if you're looking for the old me, this is where it's at.

Otherwise, head over to www.AdamUngstad.com.

Youth Encounter on Sustainability - YES 2007

Hi Folks,

Here is some information on a 2 week course being held in Switzerland this summer for university students between 20-30 interested in global sustainability.... not sure if travel / tuition are subsidized.

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

ETHsustainability, the Center for Sustainability at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich , and the partners of the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS) are pleased to announce the opening of the application process for the 2007 Youth Encounter on Sustainability -YES courses.

The two week courses aim to sensitize participants to the complex issues of sustainable development in a global context, while also exploring issues pertinent to different regions, through course work, field trips, workshops, group work, discussions and practical learning experiences, combined with social and cultural activities. The courses offer a unique opportunity to experience inter and trans disciplinary education, network building and cross cultural exchange within a vibrant international environment of students, faculty and guest experts.

A maximum of 40 places are available for each course. All participants must have a good working command of English, be between the age of 20 and 30 years and be currently enrolled at a university (either in the final stages of their undergraduate study, or at any level of graduate study). The courses will be held entirely in English and applications are welcomed from diverse disciplines and nationalities.

More information on the courses is available in the brochures, the links are included below.

Dates:
YES International

Two YES International courses will be held in this summer, both hosted at the Hotel Alpenblick in Braunwald. Braunwald is a small, sunny, automobile free village ideal for enjoying the beauty of the Swiss Alps, with access to various outdoors activities in its startling natural environment.
Session 1: 07 to 23 July 2007. Location: Braunwald , Switzerland
Session 2: 04 to 20 August 2007. Location: Braunwald , Switzerland
For more information on the course please check the brochure available at:

http://www.sustainability.ethz.ch/en/activities/
documents/YES07_Brochure_wInlay_000.pdf

YES Central and Eastern Europe

One YES Central and Eastern Europe session will be held this year, hosted in the vicinity of Bratislava . The course location will give participants the opportunity to explore the charming historic and cultural center of Bratislava and to experience the natural beauty of Slovakia , includingthe Tatra Mountains and the Danube river.
Session 1: 24 August to 10 September 2007.
For more information on the course please check the brochure available at:
http://www.sustainability.ethz.ch/en/activities
/documents/YESCEE007_Brochure_wInlay.pdf

Applications:

All applications must be submitted online. The online applications are now open at:

YES International: (Deadline 30 March 2007)
http://www.sustainability.ethz.ch/en/activities
/application_braunwald.cfm

YES Central and Eastern Europe : (Deadline 27 April 2007)
http://www.sustainability.ethz.ch/en/
activities/application_rohace.cfm

Please forward this information to colleagues, universities, organisations and institutions that may be interested. We appreciate your help to promote this unique learning experience!For more information on YES International please contact Ms. Michelle Grant (details below).

For more information on YES Central and Eastern Europe please contact Ms. Helena Malisova (details below)

Michelle GrantProject Manager,
ETHsustainabilityCenter for Sustainability at
ETH ZurichBolleystrasse 9CH 8006 ZurichSwitzerland
+41 44 632 5898 Office
+41 76 429 2600 Mobile
+41 44 632 1597 Fax
mailto:michelle.grant@

Helena MalisovaY
ES CEE Course Coordinator
Katedra Marketingu FM
UKOdbojarov 10.
P.O.Box 2582050
Bratislava, Slovakia
+421-2-50-11- 74-28 Office
+421-902-323- 462 Mobile
+421-2-50-11- 74-34 Fax
mailto:helena.malisova@sl.ethz.ch

A shift in direction...

OK guys, so out of a conversation from last night I've decided that what would make this blog actually useful for people is some information on some of the free travel opportunities that people tell me about.

Expect to find lots more information about this stuff coming soon....

The forgotten benefits of floating

The funny thing about sitting in a hot tub is that it forces you to chill.

Floating doesn't take much effort, and almost anyone can do it. There are a lot of benefits to floating that you might not be aware of.

To begin with, the simple act of submerging yourself makes you stop everything else. You can't be typing a report, peeling vegetables or dialing a cell phone while you're floating - all you can do is think or talk.

One of the other good things about hot tubs is that they are hot. This means that when you sit in them for a few minutes, you get hot too. Your body temperature raises, your circulation improves, and your blood pressure lowers, leaving you feeling warm, safe, and happy.

And you can dip your head underwater, cutting off the sounds in the room. It's nice not to have to concentrate on hearing everything around you for a change.

Hot tubs are also good public spaces. Like I said before, when you're floating you can't do much else but think or talk, and sometimes there are nice people to talk too. Chances are they will be warm too, which means they'll be in a good mood to talk.

Although public bathing has such strong roots in our history it is often over-looked in our day to day suburban lives, crowded out by bedroom television sets and basement parkades. The benefits of floating are simple but so profound - I recommend finding a way to make it part of your weekly routine.

Many community rec centres have late night swims - find one in your neighbourhood to help fend off those winter blues!

Eating flies

There were two frogs sitting on a lily pad, when all of a sudden, a fly came along.

One frog put out his tongue, ate the fly, and started laughing hysterically. Soon the other frog joined in the laughter.

Later in the day, the other frog ate a fly and the two frogs burst out in laughter.

As time went on, the frogs enjoyed the flies so much that even the sight of a fly would cause them to double up with pleasure. But of course, the most pleasure came when the fly was actually eaten.

A third frog hopped up to the first two and asked what was so funny.

The first frog answered: "Time."

"Huh?" asked the third frog.

The second frog explained: "Time's fun when you're having flies!"

Detox: the follow-up

There's an old saying about a boiled frog that goes like this: if you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water he'll jump out, but if you put him in a pot of warm water and slowly bring it to boil he won't notice how hot he is getting, and soon you'll have dinner.

During the the 12 day detox I didn't feel these incredible claims that my friends had made - I didn't feel 'amazing' or 'like I never have' - I shat more often and hungered for muffins.

But now, two weeks afterwards, my body is back in its normal state, and the proverbial frog has been dropped back into the boiling water.

Yowzers. While I might not be as in tune with the body's internal processes as I'd like to be, I can definitely see changes that have happened as I've returned to my normal state.

The lesson: boiling water is bad.

PS: 4 weeks, no cigarettes, no problem.

The Sonograph EP

If you're looking for a piece of music to help usher in the fall weather, allow me to suggest The Sonograph EP by the Early Day Miners. After it's all been said and done, I think I've gotten more mileage out of these 26 minutes over the past few weeks than all other music combined.

Both careful and spontaneous, the EP starts out with the brief waltz Albatross, and leads into the subdued Perish Room. Daniel Burton's vocals are present but far from the centre of the music - in fact I usually can't understand a thing he's saying, and I prefer it that way.

On Bedroom, Houston all of the percussion elements are dropped, leaving a minimal piece consisting of vocals, steel guitar, and small spaces of silence just long enough to give it a ghostly, gospel-like feel.

By the time you reach the end of The Sonograph EP you've navigated more than a few suprises, and really feel like you've travelled somewhere.

In comparision to other efforts by the Early Day Miners things seem to be a little less produced, a bit more direct and back to the basics.

The signature meandering, extended instrumentals are still here however, and this EP serves as an excellent introduction to the rest of their worthy catalouge.

Detox: the conclusion

Sorry, I've been meaning to write this for a while: detox finished on Friday. I'm eating muffins again.

Incidentally the 12 days came to a close as a mountain of shrimp and baked terriyaki salmon were placed before me on a buffet table at a conference in Richmond.

It was actually scary eating bread again after such a long time. Delicious, but a bit unpredictable. The next morning I ate a muffin, a croisant, and a danish for breakfast.

Judging by a few things, and my new found love for early mornings, I'd say the detox is worth the $30 and energy I put into it. I'm sure I'll continue to do similar things.

Adam Detoxifies: Day 8

So far, so good. No cigarettes, and still haven't veered from the prescribed diet. Well, OK, I'll admit it: I did accidentally eat half of a Werthers candy today.

I've been eating a lot of almonds, stir fry, and fish. I've learned how to make some interesting dishes such as black bean soup and artichoke heart hummus. I've even started roasting my own almonds.

But man, I miss the rest of the food spectrum. The worst is walking outside of a Thai restaurant on a cool, crisp evening when smells linger longer and have fewer peers to compete with. So tempting... There's a lot of things I'm looking forward to eating in 4 days.

I'm also looking forward to being able to eat out again! It's hard not being able to grab that slice of pizza on the way to your next appointment.

This is the first self-imposed diet-type thing I've ever done, and it's made me a lot more conscious of my eating choices. I'd like to say my energy level is higher than before, but its not - probably due to the lack of selection for food.

Do I feel detoxified yet?

Meh. I want a donut.